Tim Lincecum's start to 2012 doesn't bode well

Giants right-hander's start to 2012 doesn't bode well

Gwen Knapp, Chronicle Columnist

Published 4:00 am, Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Photo: Ezra Shaw, Getty Images

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SAN FRANCISCO, CA - APRIL 16: Tim Lincecum #55 of the San Francisco Giants sits in the dugout during their game against the Philadelphia Phillies at AT&T Park on April 16, 2012 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images) less

SAN FRANCISCO, CA - APRIL 16: Tim Lincecum #55 of the San Francisco Giants sits in the dugout during their game against the Philadelphia Phillies at AT&T Park on April 16, 2012 in San Francisco, California. ... more

Photo: Ezra Shaw, Getty Images

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Tim Lincecum delivers a pitch in the first inning. The San Francisco Giants played the Philadelphia Phillies at AT&T Park in San Francisco, Calif., on Monday, April 16, 2012. The Phillies defeated the Giants 5-2. less

Tim Lincecum delivers a pitch in the first inning. The San Francisco Giants played the Philadelphia Phillies at AT&T Park in San Francisco, Calif., on Monday, April 16, 2012. The Phillies defeated the Giants ... more

Photo: Carlos Avila Gonzalez, The Chronicle

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SAN FRANCISCO, CA - APRIL 16: Pitching coach Dave Righetti and Buster Posey #28 talk to Tim Lincecum #55 of the San Francisco Giants in the first inning of their game against the Philadelphia Phillies at AT&T Park on April 16, 2012 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images) less

SAN FRANCISCO, CA - APRIL 16: Pitching coach Dave Righetti and Buster Posey #28 talk to Tim Lincecum #55 of the San Francisco Giants in the first inning of their game against the Philadelphia Phillies at AT&T ... more

Photo: Ezra Shaw, Getty Images

Tim Lincecum's start to 2012 doesn't bode well

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The Freak's latest funk continued Monday night. Don't look to the radar gun for a definitive diagnosis.

His fastball started at 90-91 mph and stayed there for most of Tim Lincecum's six innings on the mound. That's not his peak, but he hasn't thrown 94 mph consistently in quite a while.

When he lost velocity and five straight games in August 2010, the dirges started playing. Lincecum pulled himself together and became the fulcrum of the Giants' championship run.

He might have pushed the current funk into retreat by stabilizing himself after a disastrous first inning, delivering five respectable innings after that. The Phillies' four runs in the first brought Lincecum's total of first-inning runs to nine in three games. He allowed eight in all of 2011.

"It's just a rough time right now, and I have to find my way out of it," said Lincecum, owner of a 10.54 ERA. "Like I said, I've got the positives to work with from my last five innings."

When the Phillies scored on him, velocity didn't seem to be the primary problem. His defense let him down, when Angel Pagan failed to track down a flyball to right-center, and then Lincecum appeared to lose composure.

His fastball lacked deceptive movement, and he had trouble controlling his usually artful off-speed stuff. His slider, originally mothballed to protect his arm early in the season, returned to the repertoire, with increasing effectiveness as the game progressed. But early, Lincecum put several pitches in the dirt and generally failed to fool the Phillies.

That confirmed a statement issued in Lincecum's first two starts of the season. The Giants' two-time Cy Young winner is still searching for himself.

Did he discover what has been missing over those last few innings? His delivery looked more natural and fluid by the end, not as forced as it had earlier. When Lincecum knocked in a run with a hard groundball to third base in the fourth inning, large swaths of the crowd gave him a standing ovation, a sign of familial support.

Lincecum has earned patience from the Giants' fan base, especially after enduring the lowest run support in the majors last year, which converted his 2.74 ERA into a 13-14 record.

His manager has been preaching against obsessions about Lincecum's velocity. Bruce Bochy doesn't want Lincecum fretting about a fastball that still has plenty of life in it. He wants the pitcher to command his pitches, and ignore the impulse to look constantly at a corner scoreboard, where radar-gun readings are posted after every pitch.

Bochy said that since stadiums started flashing pitch speeds, the temptation to look has tortured athletes. When he managed in San Diego, he tried to use that tendency against Brad Penny, then pitching for the Dodgers. Bochy asked his scoreboard crew to tinker with the radar readings, posting them 3 or 4 mph lower than they really were. During the game, he saw a lot of 94s on the board and asked the operators why they hadn't fooled with the numbers, as requested.

"They said, 'We did, he's throwing 98,' " Bochy said with a grin.

He eventually told them to lower the number to 88 and reveled in watching Penny's head pivot, take in the readings in shock, and then damage his rhythm by trying to throw even harder.

Pitching coach Dave Righetti said he constantly has to counsel young pitchers as their velocity inevitably declines a few mph after a few seasons in the majors. He estimated that most of them start to slow down somewhere between 700 and 1,000 innings of experience.

That's pretty much what they all go through, whether it's Tim or Z (Barry Zito)," Righetti said. "Somewhere during a period of your career, you're going to drop, and when you do, you should settle, if you're healthy, in an area where you're going to be for quite a while."

He said Lincecum had settled in at 91 to 93 mph, and did not worry his coach in the slightest. Righetti said he marveled at Lincecum's ability to get groundouts and would like to see him focus on that skill rather than being distracted by the radar.

On Friday, Matt Cain threw a one-hitter, overwhelming the Pirates with a fastball that traveled 90 to 92 mph most of the game, and tapered at the end.

"He threw 88 the last two innings," Righetti said, "and nobody had any problem with the velocity of his fastball."

Halladay vs. Lincecum

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